E-BOOKS, INDIA, SOUTH ASIA, LAW, ZOROASTRIANISM, HUMOUR, E-PUBLISHING, PHOTOS, E-ARTICLES

FULL MOON OVER MUMBAI

2012-02-09T15:50:00.000Z

Photo of a full moon over Mumbai– Images of India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Library

ARABIAN SEA SUNSET AT MUMBAI

2012-02-07T15:52:00.000Z

Photo of a sunset on the Arabian Sea at Marine Drive, Mumbai – Images of India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Library

ONCE UPON A TIME ....

2012-02-05T13:39:00.000Z

Once Upon a Time .... Street Sign on Marine Drive, Mumbai - Images of India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Library

SHOWING YOUR TRUE COLOURS

2012-02-04T16:49:00.000Z

Photo of building near Mahalaxmi, Mumbai

Images of India

IdeaIndia.com Photo Library

FLYING INTO THE SUN

2012-02-02T17:03:00.000Z

Photo of a kite flying into a Mumbai sunset – Images of India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Library

LIGHT EFFECTS AT DUSK IN MUMBAI

2012-01-29T06:20:00.000Z

LIGHT EFFECTS AT DUSK IN MUMBAI - Images of India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Gallery

BLUE CITY IN INDIA

2012-01-26T04:32:00.000Z

BLUE CITY IN INDIA - Photos from India by George Konkoly-Thege

HALO IN MUMBAI

2012-01-20T17:02:00.000Z

Photo of a halo in Mumbai – Images of India - India Photo Library

HAJI ALI AT DUSK IN A CLOUDY MUMBAI SKY

2012-01-19T17:27:00.000Z

Photo of Haji Ali at Dusk in a cloudy Mumbai sky – Images of India - India Photo Library

RAY OF LIGHT FROM THE RISING SUN IN MUMBAI

2012-01-17T17:33:00.001Z

Photo of a ray of light from the rising sun in Mumbai – Images of India - India Photo Library

DRIVER’S HEAVEN – EMPTY ROADS IN MUMBAI

2012-01-16T17:40:00.000Z

Photo of driver’s heaven – empty roads in Mumbai – Images of India - India Photo Library

REFLECTIONS ON MUMBAI

2012-01-15T09:13:00.000Z

Photo of reflections on Mumbai – Images of India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Library

SUNRISE OVER MUMBAI

2012-01-14T10:42:00.000Z

Photo of a sunrise over Mumbai – Images of India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Gallery

BUSES GO GREEN IN MUMBAI

2012-01-13T18:11:00.000Z

Photo of a ‘green’ bus in Peddar Road, Mumbai – Images of India - India Photo Gallery

ROOFTOP GARDEN MUMBAI

2012-01-10T14:54:00.000Z

Photo of a rooftop garden in Mumbai and the Skyline - Images of India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Library

MAHALAXMI RACECOURSE MUMBAI

2012-01-07T15:20:00.000Z

Photo of the Mahalaxmi Racecourse in Mumbai and the Skyline - Images of India - India Photo Library

FISHERMEN IN MUMBAI - Photo

2012-01-04T11:34:00.000Z

Photo of fishermen taking a break in Haji Ali, Mumbai - Images of India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Library

INDIA’S LOVE OF ACRONYMS

2012-01-03T15:36:00.000Z

Do Indians love using acronyms more than others? Has anyone else noticed this? Read any major national Indian newspaper such as the Times of India, sorry, TOI, DNA, IE, ET or the HT and you will find it littered with acronyms. Even Bollywood film names are given acronyms for ease of use.....this could be a national pastime in India.

IRONY IN MUMBAI

2012-01-02T13:11:00.000Z

Irony in Mumbai - Photos from India - Photo of a street banner on Marine Drive, Mumbai - IdeaIndia.com Photo Library

Is the Union of India greater than the sum of its parts?

2011-12-29T16:02:00.000Z

Is the Union of India greater than the sum of its parts?

The current debates in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha of the Indian Parliament on the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill 2011 is throwing up some interesting arguments on whether the Central Government in India can legislate for the States under the Indian Constitution. The Bill is supposedly about combating corruption but it causing division in the coalition UPA government. Arguments on Federalism and the Union of India are being used and the constitution being quoted at length in Parliament. How and when can the Central Government legislate for the States? Constitutional law classes in law colleges will be busy with the current events in Parliament.

INDIAN F1 GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT GRANDSTAND, DELHI - Photo

2011-12-29T12:42:00.000Z

INDIAN F1 GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT GRANDSTAND, DELHI - Photos from Delhi - IdeaIndia.com Photo Gallery

PATH TO PURANA QILA, DELHI - Photo

2011-12-28T10:58:00.000Z

PATH TO PURANA QILA, DELHI - Photos of India - India Photo Library

Blast from the Past

2011-12-27T14:35:00.000Z

With Anna Hazare drawing huge crowds at the MMRDA grounds in Mumbai speaking on the Lokpal Bill, it gives us a glimpse of what it may have been like when Mahatma Gandhi spoke to large crowds, on a non-religious issue, before Indian Independence and Partition.

WORLI SEA FACE, MUMBAI - Photo

2011-12-26T12:22:00.000Z

WORLI SEA FACE, MUMBAI - Photos from India - India Photo Library

Lokpal Bill - Can a Statute Law Change Attitudes in India?

2011-12-24T16:55:00.000Z

Lokpal Bill - Can a Statute Law Change Attitudes in India?

If the Lokpal bill becomes an Act of Parliament in India will it stop or reduce corruption? India already has laws in connection with Dowry, Female Infanticide and Child Labour but these practices still go on. These laws have not stopped deeply entrenched abhorrent behaviour. Society is more powerful than Parliament. Any anti-corruption Act of Parliament will not stop corruption in India. A statute cannot by itself change attitudes in India. Some commentators in India question whether the proposed Lokpal Bill will cause more harm than good in India. Reducing corruption in India will take generations and the flow of NRIs returning to India from other cultures will slowly begin to change attitudes.

OLD MAN USING AN ELECTRIC WHEELCHAIR ON A PUNE ROAD - Photo

2011-12-23T13:24:00.000Z

OLD MAN USING AN ELECTRIC WHEELCHAIR ON A PUNE ROAD (Is this the latest version of the Tata Nano?) - Photos from India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Library

How to Deal with Disappointments and Frustrations by Joginder Singh

2011-12-22T16:23:00.000Z

How to Deal with Disappointments and Frustrations

Joginder Singh

Free eArticle to read online

Happiness and unhappiness as well as disappointments are a part of life. Others cannot handle our problems as well as our frustrations. We have to tackle them by ourselves. The approach, of each one of us, can be and is different to handling any impediment or a stumbling block....TO READ FURTHER CLICK HERE

JOGINDER SINGH, now a well known author and columnist for several National and State newspapers, joined the Indian Police Service in 1961, in his first attempt at the eligible age of 20. He has served in his Karnataka cadre and Government of India, in several capacities, including the last high profile job of Director, CBI, India. He has written several books including works on personal development.

Life is cheap in India

2011-12-18T16:02:00.000Z

There is regular news from India over some tragedy. Today it is news of the Kolkata hospital fire and the illicit liquor that has caused the death of over 100 people. Bhopal Gas Tragedy, where thousands died, is also in the news because of the 2012 Olympics. Or the news of the farmer suicides. Such news is a regular occurrence in India. It is the families of those killed that really suffer. The justice systems works very slowly, if at all. The government of the day promises much but delivers little by way of change. Health and Safety laws offer little protection to those that suffer.

Compare the response by America to the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico against BP to the response by the authorities to the Indian tragedies.

KITE FLYING INTO A MUMBAI SUNSET - Photo

2011-12-17T17:27:00.000Z

KITE FLYING INTO A MUMBAI SUNSET - Photos from India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Library

STREET SIGN IN MUMBAI, INDIA - EVERYONE GOING AWAY FROM THE PLACE OF FUNCTION

2011-12-16T11:41:00.000Z

STREET SIGN IN MUMBAI, INDIA - EVERYONE GOING AWAY FROM THE PLACE OF FUNCTION - Photos from India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Library

PURANA QILA IN DELHI WITH LIGHTING EFFECTS - Photo

2011-12-15T14:47:00.000Z

PURANA QILA IN DELHI WITH LIGHTING EFFECTS - Photos taken during the Delhi International Arts Festival - Photos from India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Library

INDIA’S TEMPLE TO CONSUMERISM: A SHOPPING MALL IN MUMBAI

2011-12-14T12:14:00.000Z

INDIA’S TEMPLE TO CONSUMERISM: A SHOPPING MALL IN MUMBAI -Photos from India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Library

SILHOUETTE OF A KITE AT SUNSET

2011-12-12T13:55:00.000Z

SILHOUETTE OF A KITE AT SUNSET - Photos from India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Library

Is Clegg Re-'Treaty'ng from Cameron and the Coalition?

2011-12-11T14:28:00.000Z

Is Clegg Re-'Treaty'ng from Cameron and the Coalition? Now Clegg appears to be holding his ground against Cameron and the Tories after Cameron vetoed the proposed EU treaty in light of the Euro crisis. After Clegg's popularity sank during the student tuition fees debacle, he now appears to be his own man against the Tories. Whether it was right for Britain to use its veto remains to be seen, but once again the issue of Europe has opened divisions within and between parties.

MUMBAI SKYLINE AT HAJI ALI AT DUSK AS THE SUN SETS

2011-12-10T14:00:00.000Z

MUMBAI SKYLINE AT HAJI ALI AT DUSK AS THE SUN SETS - Photos from India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Library

MUMBAI SKYLINE AT NIGHT

2011-12-09T13:29:00.000Z

MUMBAI SKYLINE AT NIGHT - Photos from India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Library

SPORTING PROTEST

2011-12-03T15:13:00.000Z

The British media reported this week that there are protests growing in India for the Indian Olympic team to boycott the London 2012 Olympics as Dow Chemicals is a sponsor of the 2012 Games and Dow Chemicals owns Union Carbide which was responsible for the Bhopal Gas Tragedy where thousands died. Should the Olympics and sports generally be used for this sort of protest? Would it be better for the Indian team to take part and show their support for Bhopal in some other way? As in the 1968 Olympics Black Power Salute?

'Voice of India' Passes Away

2011-12-01T13:10:00.003Z

Award-winning author and playwright, Partap Sharma passed away on 30 November 2011. Partap was a playwright, novelist [Days of the Turban] and author of six books for children: “The Surangini Tales”, “Dog Detective Ranjha”, “Top Dog”, “The Little Master of the Elephant”, “My Father’s Magic Briefcase” and “Songs for Zen”. His best known plays, A Touch of Brightness, Begum Sumroo, Sammy! and Zen Katha, have been staged in various countries. His books have been published in India, England, USA, France, Denmark, Holland and Canada. As an actor, he played the lead in five Hindi feature films and won the National Award in 197I for his performance in Phir Bhi. He has also played the role of Nehru in the film Nehru: Jewel of India. In the year 2003, he spent three months in China to take part, again as Nehru, in an international film titled Chou-en-lai in Bandung. He has directed a number of documentary films, including a historical series for Channel Four Television, London, titled The Raj Though Indian Eyes. His voice was well-known to cinema, TV and radio audiences as he is one of India's foremost commentators and narrators.

Partap was a man of many talents and known as ‘The Voice of India’. He contributed so much during his life to the arts and theatre. He will be greatly missed. His passing away is a very sad loss to his family and to India.

RETAIL THERAPY IN INDIA

2011-11-30T11:26:00.001Z

RETAIL THERAPY IN INDIA

The change by the Indian Government to allow 51% FDI in multi-brand retail is predicted by many to boost the Indian economy, reduce inflation and food prices. Indians will soon see the likes of Walmart and Tesco opening huge stores. What impact will this have on Indian agriculture and small retailers? Let's hope this is not shock therapy but benefits the consumer and farmers alike.

INTERVIEW WITH DR. ASHOK KUMAR MALHOTRA

2011-11-28T11:36:00.001Z

INTERVIEW WITH DR. ASHOK KUMAR MALHOTRA

Author of

INSTANT NIRVANA

Americanization of Mysticism and Meditation

YOGA AND MEDITATION

SARTRE and YOGA

WISDOM OF THE TAO TE CHING

The Code of a Spiritual Warrior

GRANDPA CHOPRA’S STORIES FOR LIFE’S NOURISHMENT

Dr. Ashok Kumar Malhotra is Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Oneonta. Teaching experience includes: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism, Mysticism and Meditation in Indian and Chinese Traditions, Philosophy and Psychology of Yoga, Introduction to World Philosophy, Existentialism and Phenomenology, Philosophical Ideas in Imaginative Literature, Survey of World Religions, and Religions of India, China, and Japan. He has published 14 books and more than 50 articles on Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Comparative Philosophy and Religion. Recently, he is writing a series of books where he will be retelling 250 stories that he inherited from his grandpa while growing up in India. Calling them as Grandpa Chopra’s Stories for life’s Nourishment, they will be similar to the Aesop’s Fables where each will have a moral. The first series of 40 stories is already written and published as an eBook.

Q: Are there similarities between Indian and Chinese philosophies?

Ashok: Yes! The obvious similarity is between Indian meditation system of Yoga and Buddhism with that of the Chinese meditation method of Taoism. Another similarity is their emphasis on putting to practice the philosophical wisdom to create a good society where people could actualize their potential and live a happy contented life.

Q: Apart from Indian and Chinese philosophies are there any other different Eastern philosophies?

Ashok: There is Zen Buddhism that is widespread in Korea and Japan. Buddhism was brought to China in 527 AD by an Indian sage called Bodhidharma. The intermingling of Buddhism with Chinese Taoism gave rise to Zen Buddhism. During the 12th century, Zen Buddhism was introduced to Korea and Japan where it was incorporated into their respective cultures and became their way of life.

Q: From your eBooks you have a fascination for looking at the impact of Eastern and Western philosophies on each other?

Ashok: Historically, there has been mutual influence between Indian and Chinese philosophies and religions. Some scholars believe that Indian philosophy might have also influenced the Greek philosophers such as Plato, who seemed to have incorporated ideas on society from India while writing his famous book on The Republic. However, during the 19th century, there has been influence of India’s philosophy on the German thinkers such as Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and Max Muller. Another German scholar, Heidegger shows the influence of Chinese and Japanese philosophy and vice versa. The American Transcendentalists were also much intrigued by the Hindu books of the Upanishadas and the Bhagavad Gita. In India, Vivekananda, Tagore, Gandhi, Radhakrishnan and others were busy coalescing the Eastern and Western philosophies in their own world views during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Q: In your eBook SARTRE AND YOGA it can be seen that Yoga is not just an exercise but a philosophy?

Ashok: In the West, Yoga has been popularized as a system of physical and meditation exercises to offer good health to the practitioner. Though Yoga has this component i.e. an art of sculpting the body, heart and mind, thus bringing harmony among them, it is a fully blown system of philosophy. It raises the questions regarding the nature of the universe, human being and good life by answering them in terms of the universe as the objective joyful consciousness, human being as subjective joyful consciousness and good life as the realization of this bliss in daily life through the utilization of the practical method of Yoga.

Q: You also practice Yoga yourself as seen in your eBook YOGA AND MEDITATION – does this include the philosophy of Yoga also?

Ashok: Yes! All popular and serious forms of Yoga in the 20th and 21st centuries have their roots in the Yoga Sutras created in 500 B.C. by an Indian sage, Patanjali. I have been practicing and teaching Patanjali’s Yoga for the past 40 years. I have tried to form good habits of the body by eating the most nutritious foods (fruits, vegetables, nuts etc.); to inculcate the good habits of the heart by doing Asanas (physical exercises) and Pranayama (breathing exercises); and to institute good habits of the mind by performing Dhyana (meditation exercises) each day for 1 hour. I also visualize the connection between me and rest of existence especially other human beings. I put this meditative experience to action during my job and encounters with other human beings. At a personal and professional level, I have tried to help students, faculty and members of the community by presenting a TV show on “Yoga for Relaxation” on the Public Access Channel. This has been shown for the past two years and many people have told me that they were benefitting from doing these exercises with me through TV. Practice of Yoga philosophy has helped me to see the natural connection among all human beings. I spend my personal and professional life helping the unfortunate children of India and the world by building schools for them so that they will have a meaningful future. Yoga has taught me that we are all siblings who though come in different forms and colors but are painted by the same brush by the same creative energy.

Q: Is there one overriding Eastern philosophy?

Ashok: In the past, the spiritual/mystical aspects of the East were emphasized and they are still very popular in the West. However, Indian philosophy is multi-faceted and covers some of the major trends in the Western philosophical tradition such as logic, epistemology, analytic philosophy, phenomenology and existentialism.

Q: WISDOM OF THE TAO TE CHING: The Code of a Spiritual Warrior shows the fascination for Eastern philosophy in the West – why is this?

Ashok: The emphasis on such martial arts as karate, judo, tai chi and others has contributed to such a fascination. During the 1980’s and 1990’s Warner Brothers capitalized on this allure of the public by creating its famous and popular TV series on Kung Fu. In this series, some of the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching was presented through the mouth piece of David Carradine, showing that wisdom can be transformed into “compassion in action.” I was fortunate to have been asked by the Warner Brothers to be a consultant for their 1992 series on Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. I was invited to transcreate a number of lines from the Tao Te Ching and Chung Tzu to be used by David Carradine.

Q: What are the main differences between Eastern and Western Philosophies?

Ashok: During the 20th century, the prominent Western view held that there was no Eastern Philosophy but only Eastern Religions. This was influenced by the belief that Eastern philosophies were concerned only with mysticism/spirituality and had no logical/epistemological content. However, due to the introduction of a wide variety of courses on Eastern philosophy and religion in universities and colleges throughout the Western world, the view is changing. Even though, there is still some bias among the traditionalists in the West that Eastern philosophy is nothing more than religion, more people are showing serious interest in the study of Eastern philosophy by discovering logical and analytic content. Some have started doing serious study of comparative philosophy by showing interesting parallels between existentialism and Eastern philosophy as well as by revealing analytical and logical themes in the two traditions.

Q: In INSTANT NIRVANA: Americanization of Mysticism and Meditation – is this Americanization good or bad?

Ashok: I find human life to be a wonderful gift that might not to be repeated again. Therefore, I have a positive outlook on life. I think that in “every misfortune there is fortune.” We might not have any control on natural or social events but we do have control on our reaction to them or what we want to do with them. This Americanization of mysticism and meditation might appear to the pessimist as a slap on the face of this revered discipline, but for the optimist, it is offering an opportunity for everyone to participate and learn about it. This popularization of yoga, meditation, mysticism and spirituality has brought these sacred and hidden disciplines to the very door steps of every American. I am happy that it is happening and people are ready to read and grasp these so called esoteric disciplines and make up their own minds.

Q: In your latest work GRANDPA CHOPRA’S STORIES FOR LIFE’S NOURISHMENT – a compilation of short stories – is there a common theme running through the stories and does it reveal some Indian philosophy?

Ashok: It is a very good question. As a philosopher, I have written 14 books and many articles. In many of these works, I talk about doing good to humanity. This talk may never lead to an action on the part of the reader. That is the problem with philosophy. When I was a little kid listening to more than 250 stories from my Grandpa Chopra, I wanted to be like each of the heroes of the story. I wanted to be like them immediately. That is the difference between philosophy and a story. Philosophy appeals to the mind only whereas a story with a strong moral appeals to the mind and heart and leads to an action. All these 40 stories are like Aesop’s Fables with a moral. Hopefully, after reading them, the readers would like to act upon what they had learned from them.

PIANO FOR SALE - eBook by Meher Pestonji

2011-11-26T11:42:00.000Z

PIANO FOR SALE

A Play

Meher Pestonji

EBOOK PUBLISHED BY

AVAILABLE FROM HERE

Piano for Sale is a play set in contemporary Mumbai and revolves around two women. When Nina tries to sell her piano she discovers to her horror that the prospective buyer is her old friend Anita, who she hasn’t met for many years. When they meet they discuss their lives. Nina is single while Anita is married with children. As the conversation goes on, you discover why there is animosity and even hatred between the two women. Both were in love with the same man, Amit – who is now Anita’s husband! The truth that they thought they knew changes. Does Amit still have some connection with Nina?

The scene then changes to a time when Anita’s husband has died. Their lives have changed. Anita invites Nina over to her home to show her a letter written by Amit shortly before he died…his last letter…Why has Anita’s daughter gone abroad and has not speak to her father, Amit, for two years before he died?

What effect has this piano had on their lives? This story of two lives reunited because of the sale of a piano shows that the grass is not always greener on the other side...

Meher Pestonji’s beautifully constructed tale of two women and two very dramatic meetings, shows how they are trying to find peace in their lives after each of them has suffered emotionally.

MEHER PESTONJI - Author – Freelance Journalist – Playwright - as a freelance journalist Meher Pestonji participated in the activist movements of her times – the campaign to change rape laws, the campaign for slum-dwellers housing rights, the struggle to create a better understanding of street-kids and their special needs.

The post-Babri Masjid communal riots of the 90s affected her deeply and fuelled her resolve to fight all shades of communalism and parochialism, including those she encountered in her tiny Parsi community.

Disillusioned with the marker-oriented journalism that became fashionable in the years after the Indian economy embraced economic liberalization, she switched to creative writing. Her first book, a collection of short stories ‘Mixed Marriage and other Parsi Stories’ was published in 1999, followed by Pervez, a Novel in 2003, and Sadak Chhaap in 2005.

Her first play, Piano for Sale, had a successful run in Bombay, Delhi and Jaipur in 2006-2007. Her second play, Feeding Crows, won the South Asia segment of the BBC/British Council International Radio Play Writing Competition in 2009.

She has recently completed a novel Ulrike and Neville.

Tata's New Mistry Man

2011-11-25T18:54:00.000Z

Cyrus Mistry is to takeover at Tata once Ratan Tata steps down in December 2012. This is seen as a good move as it shows Tata to be a forward-thinking enterprise to have the best management in place for the future.

GRANDPA CHOPRA’S STORIES FOR LIFE’S NOURISHMENT - Short stories and tales by Ashok Malhotra

2011-11-23T16:07:00.000Z

GRANDPA CHOPRA’S STORIES FOR LIFE’S NOURISHMENT

Ashok Kumar Malhotra

EBOOK AVAILABLE FROM

The Grandpa Chopra’s Stories for Life’s Nourishment is Ashok’s first volume of forty tales (short stories). This is a wonderful collection of short stories and tales for both adults and children. From the Preface:

“Grandpa Chopra was a bubbling fountain of tales and fables from all over the world. Like a bee, he had collected more than two hundred fifty stories from the cultural gardens of India, China, Afghanistan and Iran as well as from the books of the Arabian Nights, Buddhist Jataka and Hindu Panchtantra Tales, Aesop’s Fables, epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana as well as the Bible. Though he had been educated only up to high school, he could speak more than six languages and was fluent in English, Hindi, Pashto, Persian, Punjabi and Urdu.

I spent my childhood days and teenage years listening to his great stories and almost memorized many of them by heart.

This is the first volume of forty stories, where each one has a moral like that of the Aesop’s fables. The first twenty-two are from Grandpa Chopra and the remaining eighteen are from me under the heading of Grandpa Malhotra. I am retelling the Grandpa Chopra’s stories as I recall them. Since they are coming from many different sources as collected by grandpa, a number of them might seem familiar because they have been around for centuries and told by various writers in their own ways. I am not their author but only a re-teller and a compiler. However, the stories under Grandpa Malhotra are drawn from my personal experiences and are retold with changed names to protect the privacy of those they are about.”

The author will donate all his royalties received from the sale of this book to the Ninash Foundation (www.ninash.org), a 501C (3) charity that builds schools for the female and minority children of India.

Prof. Ashok Kumar Malhotra is Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York College at Oneonta, New York. He is the winner of a dozen prestigious awards such as Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, East West Center Distinguished Alumni Award (USA), University of Hawaii Distinguished Alumni Award (USA), Gullands NRI Excellence Award (UK), Jewel of India Gold Award (India), Spiritual Leadership Award (USA), Bharat Excellence Award (India) and others. He has published 14 books on Indian, Chinese and Western Philosophy that include four books on Yoga and Meditation. He is the founder of the Yoga and Meditation Society as well as the Ninash Foundation, a charity that builds schools for the underprivileged children of India.

Indo-Pak trade thaw - the game-changer in Asia?

2011-11-20T14:55:00.000Z

Indo-Pak trade thaw - the game-changer in Asia?

by Subhash Chopra

The views expressed are those of the author only.

Measures to expand trade among the eight member nations of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) agreed at the group’s 17th summit in Maldives will not only mark a new chapter for SAARC economy but could be a game changer in the region and beyond. Signals of improved trade and cooperative relations between India and Pakistan could transform the situation in Afghanistan and Central Asia with the revival of the Old Silk Route. Indo-Pak entente holds the key to peace and prosperity for the entire area.

Pakistan’s promise of granting ‘most favoured nation’ or MFN trade status to India, is significant far beyond its symbolism. Pakistan has granted MFN status to nearly 100 countries but is yet to grant the same to after holding back for more than a decade of being granted the MFN status by India. True, if implemented, the measure could almost immediately double the trade between the two countries from its current level of a little over $2 billion. In terms of trade it would still be peanuts compared with, say, India-China trade level of over $60 billion.

The MFN status, though important in its own weight, has far more importance in bilateral political and foreign relations. And not just bilateral relations, it has an equally great importance for Afghanistan. Opening of the Indo-Afghan trade route through Pakistan, which would be next on the cards, could be a real game changer for the entire region and beyond.

Barring some accident or sudden shift of politics in Pakistan, of which there have been quite a few including possibly the current ‘memogate’ alleging rift between the military top brass and the Zardari government, Indo-Pak relations seem to have developed a momentum of their own over the recent months.

India’s active support to Pakistan for a seat on the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member like India herself, has been appreciated by Pakistan. So has been India’s support for Pakistan to gain concessional terms for exports to the European Union.

A no less important and highly symbolic event that has gone un-noticed is the change of drill at the Wagha-Attari border between the two countries. Gone is the old daily battle rehearsal by the sentries of the two sides raising their boots to each other’s face. Instead for the first time they exchanged Eid greetings on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha marking the end of the Islamic Hajj season. Insha Allah there shall be more happy returns of similar events.

Another fact that has gone un-noticed is that none of the opposition parties, except the fanatic fringe Lashkars and Jihadi outfits, has attacked the improvements in relations between the two countries. From the ruling PPP, MQM and ANP coalition to opposition Muslim League(Nawaz) and Muslim League(Q)—all have welcomed bilateral developments.

Nor is this new bonhomie a flash in the pan. It is a steady fruition of older bottled up aspirations. It is the culmination of the earlier efforts of leaders of almost all power centres, including sometimes even the Armed forces. The Nehru-Liaquat pact of the early 1950s didn’t have time on its side because of the assassination of the Pakistan Prime Minister. Then followed a long interregnum of bitterness and three wars until the arrival of two young Prime Ministers – Benazir Bhutto and Rajiv Gandhi -- who managed to establish a mutual rapport . But time once again was not on the side of peace as Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991.

But Benazir, in spite of her later tough stance on Kashmir for domestic reasons, saw the necessity of a new approach during her years of political exile from Pakistan.

Speaking nearly three years before her assassination at a conference organised by the Hindustan Times in New Delhi in 2004, she put forward her vision thus: “ I am looking at two soft borders. One is the Line of Control (in Kashmir), and one is a softer border over the whole of Indo-Pak gamut. Since India and Pakistan are divided (on) the solution of territory, we have suggested that this be looked at later. Let us instead look at how we can socially unite the people of Jammu and Kashmir, how we can culturally and economically unite the people of Srinagar and Muzaffrabad without going into the issue of whose territory it is.”

Almost exactly, what I would like to call the Anglo-Irish approach to Northern Ireland. Break the territorial and sovereignty logjam first by establishing peace, goodwill and economic cooperation and following up with administrative and other steps. What we need is a Belfast-style Good Friday or Juma agreement. It won’t be easy as the Northern Ireland experiment has shown. Thirteen years of patient work even after Good Friday the experiment is still in progress. Tangible achievement: No more bloodshed and a peaceful denouement to more than 300 years of Anglo-Irish bitterness.

And Benazir was not the only leader to have that vision. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had similar ideas when he invited former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Lahore. But the then Pakistan Army Chief General Parvez Musharraf thought otherwise. Instead of peace the two countries got embroiled in Kargil war.

Yet ironically enough the same General Musharraf became a convert to peace by offering what certainly were out-of-box ideas like forgetting the long dead UN resolutions on Kashmir and making the Line of Control, as in Benazir style, a soft border on way to greater administrative and security co-ordination as a prelude to a lasting solution.

Given the positive signals of the last few months emanating from a cooperative civil and military establishment of Pakistan, it may not be a farfetched expectation to see General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani emulate the example of General Musharraf in view of the new realpolitik of Taliban threat and the need to usher in a new era of prosperity through trade for Pakistan and Afghanistan. The civilian leaders from President Zardari to Nawaz Sharif and other political leaders, except the militant fringe, are on the same page of peace with India, whatever their internal differences. Amen to the new peace initiatives which augur well not just for South Asia but extend to Central Asia and beyond.

SUBHASH CHOPRA, author of India and Britannia: An Abiding Affair, is a freelance journalist. He began his journalistic career at The Indian Express, New Delhi. After about four years on the reporting and editing staff of the Express, he left for Britain where he worked on newspapers up and down the country for about 25 years, including The Times, London, at its business news desk. He also had a short spell as Publications Editor, Commonwealth Secretariat, London. In India, besides working for The Indian Express, New Delhi and Madras, he worked as Associate Editor, The National Herald, and Asian News International, the print and television news agency, looking after its scripts for Reuters and other feeds and the print service for newspapers. He has been freelancing since leaving ANI and now divides his time between New Delhi and London. His latest book, Partition, Jihad & Peace, is published in hardback by Lancerpublishers.com

Farmer Suicides in India

2011-11-19T13:50:00.000Z

Farmer Suicides in India

The media in the UK has recently reported on the issue of farmer suicides in India. They reported that a quarter of a million farmers have committed suicide in the last 16 years. This is both astonishing and a great shame for India. How is it that so many farmers can think that there is no other solution to their lives? When will the Indian Government wake up and see the plight of farmers and their families.

The cities are prospering but a very large proportion of the population do not live in the cities and the economic boom passes them by. The Indian Government needs to act decisively to stop further suicides and find some solution to the farmers’ problems. India will suffer without a strong agricultural base.

I wrote an earlier blog on this issue: Holy Cow!

THE HEARTS OF THE HOOMANS - eBook by B Raghavan – Read Online for Only US$ 1

2011-11-18T11:10:00.000Z

THE HEARTS OF THE HOOMANS

B.S. Raghavan

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS EBOOK ONLINE FOR ONLY US$ 1

READ THIS EBOOK ONLINE AND SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS – THIS EBOOK WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS TO READ ONLINE IN ADOBE FLASH FORMAT FOR 3 DAYS AFTER PURCHASE – IF YOU LIKE IT YOU CAN BUY THE DOWNLOADABLE VERSION HERE

HISTORICAL FICTION, LITERATURE, INDIA

The novel is set in the India of the 1950's in the northernmost part of the State of West Bengal. It is a time of change and uncertainty. India has just recently become independent and a democratic republic. The Constitution of India has come into force. Nehru’s “Tryst with destiny…” is just beginning.

It was a time of great transition when there were still a few of the British left as managing agents and managers of tea gardens. The old generation of the members of the Indian Civil Service appointed in the colonial era was still in high positions of authority, while the new generation of young Indian Administrative Service officers was just taking charge.

You are transported into an India of 60 years ago in this realistic and absorbing depiction by B.S. Raghavan of the subtle inter-generational and inter-racial conflicts and friendships among the new rulers and business interests when the old order was yielding place to the new

Review: “Exotic and intriguing, Raghavan’s novella is a good read, with an O. Henry-like twist in the tale at the end, spicing up the narrative. Lovers of history, scholars of social sciences and cultural studies will find The Hearts of the Hoomans informative and illuminating, peppered as it is with a dash of nationalism, quintessential romance and, of course, the East-West encounter. Readers are transported to the world of tea gardens and their managers as they were just after India’s Independence when the British were being eased out and the Indians were taking over the reins of this business. Happenings at the interstices of the old and the new, interweaving the history of the nation with the daily occurrences in human lives, move forward the plot of the novella. We come across Indian images like, “... lifted the folds of her saree and shoved them at her waist, to make quick movements easy.” juxtaposed against cosmopolitan ones like, “The heart of the hoomans/ Is in size a pear; / Yet the stars and the blue skies/ Are squeezed together there;” I would like to commend the cover design of the book which visually makes explicit the setting and the broad story line”. Smita Agarwal, Poet and Professor of English, Author of MOFUSSIL NOTEBOOK: Poems of Small-town India

eBook published by

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ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ACCESSION OF CHILD MALNUTRITION IN MUMBAI - eBook by Sanjay Rode

2011-11-17T11:38:00.000Z

ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ACCESSION OF CHILD MALNUTRITION IN MUMBAI

Sanjay Rode

EBOOK AVAILABLE FROM

Digital Content Publishing and Distribution by IdeaIndia.com

Mumbai city is a financial capital of India and it is contributing more in terms of tax and record maximum trade with other countries. Many headquarters of banks, stock exchanges and offices of multinational companies are located in the city. Mumbai city provides higher income through various business and employment opportunities to the population. Therefore, skilled and unskilled workers from all over the country migrate to the city. Skilled workers do not find any problem of housing and employment but unskilled workers have difficulty in finding jobs, housing. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation provides water supply, sanitation, transport and health care. Such social infrastructure facilities are expected to improve the standard of living of the population in the city. Every year government of Maharashtra and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation spend money on creation and maintaining civic infrastructure. Therefore, higher incidence of malnutrition among children is not expected. But rising migration and density of the population, the standard of living of the population is declining. Lack of housing forced people to stay in slums.

Nearly fifty percent of the population is living in slums without basic infrastructure facilities. The number is continuously rising due to the migration. Health care facilities are overcrowded and they are beyond the reach of poor people. The women and children suffer due to water washed and water borne diseases. Drinking water is not adequately provided in all slums. We conducted survey of 1007 households in Mumbai city in 2003 to understand the malnutrition among 0-5 age group children. For comparison again in 2011, we conducted sample of 1050 households in Eastern and Western suburbs of the city. Both samples were conducted in kutcha slums in city. We found that stunting among children has increased in Mumbai city. The incidence of severe malnutrition is continuously increasing. Therefore, we have calculated 2092 to 3138 annual deaths due to malnutrition in city in the current sample. Such deaths are calculated only in 0-5 age group children. But increasing migration and density of population has affected the quality of services provided in the city. It has resulted in inadequate housing, water supply, electricity and transportation. Women and children have to carry drinking water for long distances. The opportunity cost of carrying water is much higher for women and children in the city. Most of the women are involved in the informal sector jobs. They cannot visit public health care facilities because they are overcrowded. Prenatal and postnatal visits are very low among women in urban slums. Visiting health care facilities has a high direct and indirect cost. The cost of medicines, standing in long queues, waiting cost is much higher for the poor households. Therefore, repeated visits to health care facility are not possible. In the informal sector, workers are removed from their jobs if they remain absent for different reasons. ICDS services have lower coverage in Mumbai city. Due to less remuneration to women, equipment and lack of space, reduces the supplementary feeding to children, lactating and pregnant women. In order to reduce the malnutrition among children, the government must raise the level of income of slum households. Women must be given technical training for self-employment. The role of SEWA is effective in order to improve the status of women in society. There is need to expand the ICDS services coverage in city. There should be incentives for the anganwadi workers to cover more below five age group children, pregnant and lactating women for supplementary food. Government must appoint health workers, professionals in city hospitals.

There is need to expand the health infrastructure in city to tackle child malnutrition in slums. The time has come to modify economic growth in to the economic equity and government should take initiatives to provide the benefits of economic growth to the poor people. There is need to invest more resources in civic infrastructure. Otherwise many more children will continuously die due to malnutrition in city. A financial capital of country should not report many more children’s deaths due to malnutrition.

SANJAY RODE is Assistant professor, Department of Economics, S.K. Somaiya College of Arts, Commerce and Science, Mumbai. He teaches Development, International economics, Micro and Microeconomics, Public economics at Post-Graduate level. Research Areas of Interest: Maternal and Child Health, Applied Econometrics, Urban Poverty. Sanjay has written numerous papers and books including:

1 ‘The truth about hunger and diseases in Mumbai’ Economic and Political Weekly Vol. XXXVIII No.43 PP 4604-4610, October 25, 2003 - - with Neeraj Hatekar

2 ‘Malnutrition in Mumbai’ One India One People, September 2003 PP12-14.

3 ‘Determinants of RTIs/STIs prevalence among women in Haryana’ E-social sciences working papers/ Health Studies, December 2007.

4 ‘Institutional deliveries: A long perspective in Uttarkhand’ in IIPS edited book, population, environment and development of Uttarkhand.

5 ‘Double Burden of Malnutrition among Women in Maharashtra’ Submitted for publication to Esocialsciences.com

6 ‘Does demolition of slums affects on pre-school children’s health in Mumbai?’ Theoretical and Empirical Research in Urban Management, Number 1(10)/2009, PP 63-74.

7 ‘Safe and sustainable drinking water supply: Innovative policies lagging behind in India’

8 ‘Improving the welfare and productivity among the workers of small and household units in textile and garment sectors in India’, Economia. seria management , June 2009 issue

10 ‘Sustainable drinking water supply in Pune Metropolitan Region: Alternative policies’, Theoretical and Empirical Research in Urban Management, Special number 1 S/April 2009

11 "Drinking water supply management in Municipal corporations of Maharashtra" Global journal of Management and Business Research, Vol.10, issue 6 ver.1.0 August 2010, Page 5-19. )

12 Malnourishment among children in Mumbai City, LAP LAMBERT academic publishing, 19th July 2010

MOFUSSIL NOTEBOOK: Poems of Small-Town India – Read Online for only US$ 1

2011-11-16T11:19:00.000Z

MOFUSSIL NOTEBOOK: Poems of Small-Town India

Smita Agarwal

EBOOK TO VIEW ONLINE FOR ONLY US$ 1

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS EBOOK ONLINE AND SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS – THIS EBOOK WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS TO READ ONLINE IN ADOBE FLASH FORMAT FOR 3 DAYS AFTER PURCHASE – IF YOU LIKE IT YOU CAN BUY THE DOWNLOADABLE VERSION FROM IDEAINDIA.COM - Digital Content Publishing and Distribution - eBooks eArticles Photos and other Digital Content on India and South Asia for Digital Distribution

Like the epigraph couplet of the eighteenth century Urdu poet, Zauq, Smita

Agarwal’s landscapes shift from Allahabad to Ladakh to Times Square and her emotions from playful (“My Bindi”) to stark (“Moving On”). She also experiments with form as in “Ghazal: Civil Lines”, “These Days” (the Hindi kavi sammelan) and the folk in “Binsar Barahmasa”.

"Reading it is sheer delight" - Khushwant Singh - click here for his review

Tell-A-Friend about IdeaIndia.com and receive a Free eBook

2011-11-15T18:47:00.000Z

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IdeaIndia.com - Digital Content Publishing and Distribution - eBooks eArticles Photos and other Digital Content on India and South Asia

Narrow Streets in Chandni Chowk, Delhi

2011-11-12T10:05:00.000Z

Narrow Streets in Chandni Chowk, Delhi- Photos from India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Library - Digital Content Publishing and Distribution @ IdeaIndia.com

Mumbai Skyline from Chowpatty Beach

2011-11-10T18:33:00.000Z

Mumbai Skyline from Chowpatty Beach - Photos from India - IdeaIndia.com Photo Library - Digital Content Publishing and Distribution

Delhi F1 Grand Prix

2011-11-06T12:19:00.000Z

Video clip from the Delhi F1 Grand Prix Qualifiers - Indian Grand Prix - Motor racing in India

Whirling Dervishes in Delhi

2011-11-05T12:52:00.000Z

Short clip of Whirling Dervishes from Egypt performing at the Delhi International Arts Festival 2011 at the Purana Qila, Delhi

Publicise and promote your news, announcements, functions or events for FREE at IDEAINDIA.COM

2011-11-02T09:40:00.001Z

Publicise and promote your news, announcements, functions or events connected with India for FREE during 2011 at IdeaIndia.com

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Photos from India by George Konkoly-Thege

2011-11-01T10:30:00.000Z

Photos from India by George Konkoly-Thege available from IdeaIndia.com Photo Library

Here are just some of the wonderful photos from his travels to India:

Man creating art

Rats being fed milk

Man with large turban

GEORGE KONKOLY-THEGE: Freelance Photographer from Hungary whose work has been exhibited widely. He has travelled to many countries, including India and South Asia, and has an extensive catalogue of work. George is also an economist.

IDEAINDIA.COM - Digital Content Publishing and Distribution - ePublishing Photos eBooks eArticles and other Digital Content on India and South Asia

HAPPY PEOPLE

2011-10-31T11:37:00.000Z

HAPPY PEOPLE - PHOTOS FROM INDIA - IDEAINDIA.COM PHOTO LIBRARY

Delhi's Festival of Lights

2011-10-27T11:19:00.000+01:00

As the sun sets over Delhi....

The Festival of Lights begin....

Diwali celebrations in Delhi - Photos from India - IDEAINDIA.COM Photo Library

Kite over Mumbai

2011-10-26T12:30:00.000+01:00

Kite over Haji Ali, Mumbai - Photos from India - from the IDEAINDIA.COM Photo Library

Parsi Zoroastrian Jashan

2011-10-25T10:54:00.000+01:00

Two Parsi Zoroastrian Priests conducting a Jashan ceremony

Crow Fest by the Sea

2011-10-24T14:13:00.001+01:00

FEEDING CROWS - eBook by Meher Pestonji

2011-10-22T07:51:00.000+01:00

FEEDING CROWS

A Play for the Radio

Meher Pestonji

eBook available from IDEAINDIA.COM

@ http://www.ideaindia.com/product_detail.php?pid=1953

Feeding Crows is play about the clash when modern life meets old traditional belief and custom in modern day Mumbai, India. A yuppie Parsi Zoroastrian couple, Farhad and Zenobia, more interested in their careers and ‘getting ahead’ in life, have an old, superstitious housemaid, Savitri. There is a battle of cultures and of wills. Meher has beautifully crafted this humorous play which brings to life a clash of modern city living versus traditional belief and superstition. Discover who is feeding the crows.... and why?

Her first play, Piano for Sale, had a successful run in Bombay, Delhi and Jaipur in 2006- 2007. Her second play, Feeding Crows, won the South Asia segment of the BBC/British Council International Radio Play Writing Competition in 2009.

She has recently completed a novel Ulrike and Neville.

USUAL MUMBAI GRIDLOCK

2011-10-21T14:13:00.000+01:00

USUAL MUMBAI TRAFFIC GRIDLOCK - PHOTOS FROM MUMBAI, INDIA

Being Sexy and Human in Mumbai

2011-10-20T08:28:00.000+01:00

BEING SEXY AND HUMAN IN MUMBAI - PHOTOS FROM MUMBAI, INDIA

Lone Figure in Sunset

2011-10-19T06:55:00.000+01:00

LONE FIGURE IN SUNSET AT HAJI ALI, MUMBAI, INDIA - PHOTOS FROM MUMBAI, INDIA

DAL, BHATT, SHAK FOR MODI?

2011-10-18T08:48:00.000+01:00

Indian media reports that 'Anti-Modi' cop, Sanjiv Bhatt, has been released on bail and that this is a blow to Modi, Chief Minister of Gujerat. Does this mean that the Chief Minister's Dal, Bhatt and Shak won't taste as good?

MUMBAI SUNSET

2011-10-17T14:10:00.000+01:00

Sunset over Haji Ali, Mumbai

Photos from India

Illustrated eBooks by Partap Sharma and Dheera Kitchlu

2011-10-14T17:30:00.000+01:00

SONGS FOR ZEN is a beautifully illustrated eBook for young children learning to count and exercise. It contains 3 chapters: The Counting Song, The Exercise Song and The Little Pony to which children, parents and teachers can sing along.

MY FATHER’S MAGIC BRIEFCASE is wonderful story and a beautifully illustrated eBook for young children, their parents and teachers. The story is written in verse to which all can sing along.

PARTAP SHARMA is a playwright, novelist [Days of the Turban] and author of four books for children: “The Surangini Tales”, “Dog Detective Ranjha”, “Top Dog” and “The Little Master of the Elephant”. His best known plays, A Touch of Brightness, Begum Sumroo, Sammy! and Zen Katha, have been staged in various countries. His books have been published in India, England, USA, France, Denmark, Holland and Canada. As an actor, he has played the lead in five Hindi feature films and won the National Award in 197I for his performance in Phir Bhi. He has also played the role of Nehru in the film Nehru: Jewel of India. In the year 2003, he spent three months in China to take part, again as Nehru, in an international film titled Chou-en-lai in Bandung. He has directed a number of documentary films, including a historical series for Channel Four Television, London, titled The Raj Though Indian Eyes. His voice is well-known to cinema, TV and radio audiences as he is one of India's foremost commentators and narrators.

DHEERA KITCHLU is a child educator and a writer and illustrator of books. She has taught children to ride horses, to study and have fun with words. Her written work includes story development and script writing for Indian television, radio plays, skits for airline entertainment for children and stories for audio cassettes for visually impaired children. In addition she has written seven story books for children between the ages of 3-15 years. Some of these she has illustrated herself. All her books are set in contemporary India and deal with issues concerning the Universal Child. Her current focus, through her initiative, ‘Anyone Can Write,’ is to encourage children to explore their creative potential through writing.

eBooks published by IDEAINDIA.COM - Digital Content platform that publishes and distributes digital content and services - ePublishing eBooks eArticles Photos and other Digital content on India and South Asia, Digital Delivery of Digital Content, Digital Content Delivery and publishing. Titles on: Agriculture, Art and Art History, Astrology, Biography, Business, Cinema, Current Affairs, Economics, Environment, Fiction And Literature, History, Mythology, Philosophy, Poetry, Politics, Religion, Science, Society and Culture, Sport, Yoga, Photo Library

IDEAINDIA.COM - DIGITAL CONTENT PUBLISHING AND DELIVERY

2011-10-14T13:23:00.000+01:00

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Time for Pakistan to do a rethink on Afghanistan

2011-10-11T12:11:00.000+01:00

Time for Pakistan to do a rethink on Afghanistan

By Subhash Chopra, London

Author of INDIA AND BRITANNIA: An Abiding Affair - published as an eBook by IDEAINDIA.COM

The views expressed are the author’s own

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai’s latest critique of Pakistan that the Taliban cannot lift a finger without the help of Islamabad has predictably taken the ties between the two neighbours to a new low. The candid criticism comes on the heels of his visit to India where he signed a “strategic pact” of mutual cooperation and on the eve of the tenth anniversary of US-led invasion which brought down the Taliban regime in Kabul in 2001. Karzai’s remarks in an interview to the BBC about the “failure” of Nato allies till now in tackling Taliban and Pakistan have not just infuriated his critics in Pakistan but also emboldened his detractors in the West who regard him as the weakest link in the fight against the Taliban. What has sharpened their attack on him is his reported declaration that he would quit office at the end of 2014, the deadline which the US and British have set themselves for withdrawal of their forces and handover of security to the Afghan authorities.

There is widespread pessimism among the Nato allies, particularly in Britain, about any successful conclusion to the Afghan war. Some of the British commentators are issuing dire warnings to India about using its non-military “soft power” to help Afghanistan. Ridiculing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s assurance to President Karzai that “India will stand by the people of Afghanistan,” a Guardian columnist warned: “India’s leaders one day may come to rue their vainglorious generosity in picking up the hot potato that the US, Britain and the rest all gingerly dropped, it seems a high price to pay for outflanking Pakistan.”

London also witnessed a “Stop the War” rally on Sunday (October 8) with participants including Jemima Khan, the ex-wife (but still a good friend) of Pakistani cricketer and anti-American prime ministerial hopeful Imran Khan. However, the governments of both US and Britain, the leading anti-Taliban countries, have a wider perspective and don’t regard their military exercise as a failure. They are hopeful of leaving Afghanistan as a better country in terms of education, development and even security however patchy that may be. They certainly have no plans to leave the country ready for a re-takeover by Taliban and the last few remnants of al Qaeda.

Notwithstanding declarations and deadlines, only time will tell the quantity and quality of Anglo-US withdrawal or Karzai’s 2014 resignation and the shape of the post-2014 government in Kabul. What Karzai’s critics fail to understand is that his talk of resignation and Nato’s failure is a reflection not of defeatism but of desperation at the failure of US and

Nato allies to the drive home the message to Pakistan that it must end its clandestine links with Taliban and their operations against Afghanistan. US President Barrack Obama’s exhortations to Pakistan to stop regarding India as its “mortal enemy” have fallen on deaf ears so far. For long the US was almost afraid of mentioning the India word to Pakistan, as only a couple of years ago Washington bowed to Pakistan’s insistence to exclude India from the London conference on Afghanistan attended by almost 60 countries. No longer so. The US is now repeatedly and openly asking Pakistan to change its mindset on India which would be beneficial to itself and the entire region. Pakistan, like India, should join in the development and reconstruction of Afghanistan. Short of asking Pakistan to emulate India, the advice from the US -- and Britain – has shown a full circle change.

As things stand today the Pakistani military establishment is in no mood to listen to anybody, aid or no financial aid from the US. Of course, Islamabad knows Washington can’t do without it while the US is still caught in the Afghanistan war trap. Both are engaged in the toughest round of calling each other’s bluff. In all probability the bluffing fight will be called off at the last moment. The donor and the recipient can’t do without each other. Karzai’s signing of the strategic pacts with India last week clearly has not endeared him to the Pakistani establishment. His description of Pakistan as Afghanistan’s “twin brother” and India as a “friend” hasn’t cut much ice. Pakistani establishment’s paranoia about India shows no sign of diminishing at least for now. Nor does Pakistan look any nearer to realising the full danger it faces from the Taliban. Perhaps it still believes that it can control Taliban by playing the Islamic card. The lesson of Taliban attacks on Pakistani civil and military outfits, including the attack on the high security Navy base in Karachi, has not been learnt. Perhaps Pakistan has not yet reached its tipping point. But sooner than later it will have to confront the prospect of dismounting the tiger called Taliban, which is not going to be easy the longer it is delayed. In the final analysis, Taliban are no friends of Pakistan. The sooner the military establishment realises its monumental folly the better for Pakistan. And not just for Pakistan but for Afghanistan and the entire region too.

The other obsession which Pakistan must get rid of is its concept of using Afghanistan as its “strategic depth” backyard. This obsession has earned Pakistan the extreme distrust, virtual enmity, of Afghanistan. The “trust deficit” between the governments of the two countries is becoming wider by the day and needs to be arrested for the sake of both sides. Pakistan cannot treat Afghanistan as its fifth province. If super powers like the erstwhile Soviet Union, Britain and America can’t control Afghanistan, what chance has Pakistan got? Instead Pakistan should join India and Afghanistan in trilateral cooperation with others for a better world all round.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

SUBHASH CHOPRA, author of INDIA AND BRITANNIA: An Abiding Affair - published as an eBook by IDEAINDIA.COM - is a freelance journalist. He began his journalistic career at The Indian Express, New Delhi. After about four years on the reporting and editing staff of the Express, he left for Britain where he worked on newspapers up and down the country for about 25 years, including The Times, London, at its business news desk. He also had a short spell as Publications Editor, Commonwealth Secretariat, London. In India, besides working for The Indian Express, New Delhi and Madras, he worked as Associate Editor, The National Herald, and Asian News International, the print and television news agency, looking after its scripts for Reuters and other feeds and the print service for newspapers. He has been freelancing since leaving ANI and now divides his time between New Delhi and London.

Has Fox Hunting been Legalised in Britain?

2011-10-10T12:13:00.000+01:00

Has Fox Hunting been legalised in Britain again as politicians and the media hound Liam Fox, British Defence Secretary? His position is hanging by a thread currently as he faces questions over his 'best man'.

SUDIPTA AND THE GUN - Short Story by Shoma A. Chatterji

2011-10-07T13:46:00.000+01:00

SUDIPTA AND THE GUN

Short Story

Shoma A. Chatterji

Free to read online

Taken from her collection of short stories:

WOMEN PLAYING HIDE-AND-SEEK

Cover: courtesy Durga Kainthola, ‘The Kiss’, 2004

Sudipta never knew what it was to be in power, to be powerful, to hold power over someone, the power to control her life. She led a life overwhelmed by the power she was held by over 27 summers. When she found that small gun in that taxi while coming home from a matinee show, instead of handing it over to the cabbie, she tucked it into her purse. She carried a big, roomy bag instead of those fancy ones with ornate embroidery. Her hand fell over the small nozzle. She felt up along the sleek barrel, moved over the trigger, till she held the handle and just knew it was a gun. The skin on her arms broke in goose pimples. She felt strength surge from within. It was a feeling she had never experienced before.

She thanked herself for having discovered a way of escaping her movements monitored by running away to the movies. It gave her a sense of freedom, a happiness that was her private world. She persuaded Ritesh not to give her a cell phone. He wanted to give it to monitor her movements. She slunk out regularly after lunch, after she had cleaned up the table and washed the kitchen platform. She had a ready excuse – she had joined typing classes, a wish her dictatorial and masochist police commissioner father denied her because he felt girls who would in any case get married did not need to learn typing. It was beneath his dignity.....CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

WOMEN PLAYING HIDE-AND-SEEK: Short Stories - eBook by Shoma A. Chatterji

2011-10-05T17:16:00.000+01:00

Cover by courtesy of Durga Kainthola, 'The Kiss', 2004

WOMEN PLAYING HIDE-AND-SEEK

Short Stories

Shoma A. Chatterji

Cover: Courtesy Durga Kainthola, ‘The Kiss’, 2004

eBook available from IDEAINDIA.COM

@ http://www.ideaindia.com/product_detail.php?pid=1951

Women Playing Hide-and-Seek is a collection of 14 short stories on Women. The stories are humorous, loving and dark. Shoma A. Chatterji combines various universal aspects of women into these beautifully constructed stories that make you laugh, cry and, above all, wonder.

Shoma A. Chatterji, film critic, journalist and author, won the National Award (1991) for Best Film Critic and the Best Film Critic Award from the Bengal Film Journalists’ Association (1998.) Her book Parama and Other Outsiders – The Cinema of Aparna Sen, won the National Award for the Best Book on Cinema in 2003. She won a research fellowship from the National Film Archive Pune in 2003-2004 and a Senior Research Fellowship from PSBT (Public Service Broadcasting Trust) Delhi. She won the second prize in the Sahitya Akademi’s Golden Short Story Translation Contest in 2007. She has done her Ph.D. in History. The title of the thesis is Men Directors – Women’s Voice. She writes extensively on cinema and gender issues. She also covers media, human rights, development, child rights and contemporary issues in several print and electronic media publications across India. She has been on the panel of several Film Juries at International Film Festivals such as Mannheim-Heidelberg, St. Petersburg, Dona San Sebastian, etc. She has presented papers on television and cinema at Thessaloniki, Greece, Mannheim, Stuttgart and University of Heidelberg, Germany, School of Sound, London, and Asian Film Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Besides contributing to many edited compilations on Indian cinema, she has singly authored 17 published books on cinema, gender issues, short fiction and urban history. She currently contributes to The Statesman, The Tribune, Screen, Trans World Features, South Asian Cinema and Free Press Journal. She has been writing for 30 years and is based in Kolkata.

CONSERVATIVES, CATS AND CLANGERS

2011-10-04T19:27:00.000+01:00

Theresa May, UK Home Secretary, said in her speech at the Conservative Party conference today that she wishes to abolish the Human Rights Act in the UK and quoted an example of a Bolivian Man avoiding deportation from the UK because he had a pet cat. The news suggests that this is not quite the case. Kenneth Clarke, Justice Secretary, disputed this example. Judges may be many things but they are not that stupid. Theresa May does her credibility and the credibility of her office and party (and the judge in her example) no favours when she quotes such exaggerated and inaccurate examples. If her example were true then all foreign criminals in the UK should buy pet cats to avoid deportation (which might give a small boost to the British retail economy) and remember that pets are not just for Christmas but to avoid deportation. This Conservative Party conference will be remembered to for this division between the two ministers.

Bollywood and Indian Culture

2011-10-03T15:54:00.000+01:00

If you go to any Indian city or major town, Bollywood still reigns supreme. Hollywood and other foreign films have not taken overtaken Bollywood as yet. What is it about Bollywood and Indian culture that remains so strong in India and amongst the Indian diaspora?

LIMBECK

2011-10-03T15:47:00.000+01:00

Glenn Beck’s show on the Fox Channel is broadcast in the UK and it is difficult sometimes to make out his viewpoint or what he is trying to say. It appears that for the Tea Party Movement in America there is no god but Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck is his prophet. Or is it the other way around now? There is no TV host like Glenn Beck in the UK but his programme appears to be more jingoism than anything else. His programme is definitely right of centre politics and regularly appears to cast a number of Obama’s advisors as having ulterior motives. He and Rush Limbaugh are clearly very influential in US politics and have wide support which is worrying. Mainstream, centre politicians are having to deal with them and pander to their sentiments. America seems to have this sort of popular extremism and its proponents.

HUMAN RIGHTS OR WRONGS

2011-10-02T14:03:00.000+01:00

We hear in the news that the Home Secretary, Theresa May, wants the Human Rights Act axed. Whilst the Human rights Act may have helped with rights in relation to the Right to life (Article 2) and the Prohibition against torture (Article 3), these two rights are not argued and do not come into play in most of the criminal cases heard in the UK criminal courts. More commonly, the rights that come into play in a lot of criminal cases are the right to liberty and security (Article 5) and the right to a fair trial (Article 6) and these two rights are not absolute. They have ‘get out clauses’ or exceptions. I think that the Human Rights Act, in relation to the vast majority of criminal cases, has not been wholly helpful particularly with the rights contained in Articles 5 & 6. The Human Rights Act has concentrated the mind on the exceptions to these rights rather than the rights themselves and this can be seen in a number of appeal cases where the legal argument is about the exceptions and what is or is not permissible under these exceptions. How these exceptions to the rights are interpreted can vary over time as the criminal justice system changes, especially with legal aid being cut back. Even if the Human Rights Act were removed from the Statute books, the status quo, I think, would remain and we would not go back to the law as it was before the Act came into force.

Affirmative Action in India

2011-10-01T16:29:00.000+01:00

There are news reports in the Times of India today that the politician, Mayawati, wants a quota system for Dalits in the Judiciary and the private sector. Affirmative action, caste reservations and quota systems in education in India are very divisive and controversial issues. There is no doubt that Dalits and 'untouchables' face great discrimination and sometimes persecution in India. Is affirmative action or positive discrimination the answer? And more to the point is it the answer in the Judiciary and the private sector?

FIXING IT: Cricket, Commercialisation and Match-Fixing - eArticle by Gulu Ezekiel

2011-09-30T11:55:00.000+01:00

FIXING IT:

Cricket, Commercialisation and Match-Fixing

GULU EZEKIEL

E-ARTICLE AVAILABLE FROM IDEAINDIA.COM

AT: http://www.ideaindia.com/product_detail.php?pid=1950

Fixing and rampant use of performance enhancing drugs are the biggest threat to international sport. As the rewards go into the millions, so the desire to win begins stronger. And then there is the temptation to cut corners to the top. But unlike drugs, fixing can only be implemented when a sportsperson deliberately under-performs. In that sense he is cheating himself and his fans, and in a team sport, his country as well. No international sport is immune from this scourge and curse which is like a cancer that eats into the vitals and destroys it from within. Boxing, Football, Athletics and, of course, Cricket.

GULU EZEKIEL one of India’s leading cricket writers, Gulu began his career in Madras in 1982. He has been sports editor at Asian Age, New Delhi TV and indya.com and is the author of 11 sports books. A regular on Indian TV, he has been freelancing since 2001 and has contributed to over 100 publications around the world including in the UK, Australia, Pakistan and Israel.

Khushwant Singh reviews Mofussil Notebook: Poems of Small-town India by Smita Agarwal

2011-09-26T12:06:00.001+01:00

Khushwant Singh reviews 'Mofussil Notebook: Poems of Small-town India' by Smita Agarwal

Khushwant Singh, in the Hindustan Times, describes Mofussil Notebook: Poems of Small-town India by Smita Agarwal as "sheer delight" - click here for his review

MOFUSSIL NOTEBOOK: Poems of Small-town India

Smita Agarwal

is published as an eBook by

IDEAINDIA.COM

and also available as a Kindle eBook

Click here for more details

Smita Agarwal is also the author of Wish-granting Words:

Smita Agarwal’s treatment of “life’s disenchantment’s ... with rare sensitivity and without a trace of self-pity prove that she is a first-rate poet from whom we can expect great writing.” Khushwant Singh in Hindustan Times.

Smita Agarwal’s poems “veer from the exotic to the defamiliarized” yet she “offers glimpses of optimism” in her “painfully grown-up pieces.” Devon Campbell-Hall in Wasafiri.

Smita Agarwal’s poems “have the fine tenor of a practiced musician.” Outlook.

DIY NHS

2011-09-25T12:19:00.001+01:00

The Times reports today that 'Nurses want Relatives to Care for Sick'. Is this David Camerons' 'Big Society' gone too far? Perhaps B & Q, the DIY store could run the NHS. Where will it end? Perhaps next we'll hear that the Police want the public to solve crimes? If this is a way for the government to decrease the NHS budget then it needs far more careful consideration.

PRANAYAMA IN ANIMALS?

2011-09-22T15:43:00.000+01:00

PRANAYAMA IN ANIMALS? - The benefits of Pranayama are well known. It is also, sometimes, called Yogic Breathing. Yoga Yajnyavalkya (VI, 2) defines Yogic breathing as the unification of Prana and Apana. In Yoga Sutra (II, 49), Patanjali describes it as the cessation of inhalation and exhalation. Similar definitions are given in other ancient scriptures...Click here to read this eArticle by Satish Chandra Agarwal

MY FATHER'S MAGIC BRIEFCASE - eBook by Partap Sharma with illustrations by Dheera Kitchlu - published by IDEAINDIA.COM

2011-09-21T10:45:00.000+01:00

MY FATHER’S MAGIC BRIEFCASE

Partap Sharma

Illustrations by Dheera Kitchlu

eBook available from IDEAINDIA.COM

at: http://www.ideaindia.com/product_detail.php?pid=1948

Also available as Kindle eBook

MY FATHER’S MAGIC BRIEFCASE is wonderful story and a beautifully illustrated eBook for young children, their parents and teachers. The story is written in verse to which all can sing along.

Tax Inspector Heaven

2011-09-18T15:34:00.000+01:00

TAX INSPECTOR HEAVEN - There is news today that the Liberal Democrats will create about 2000 new tax inspectors to go after the more affluent and top tax payers in order to collect 'the fair share' that these tax payers have to pay. This will be a boost for job creation in Britain in the very short term. But I suspect that these affluent top rate tax payers will probably have lawyers and accountants to act on their behalf when dealing with HMRC. The tax inspectors will probably be looking for easy targets which will eventually mean these and other tax inspectors targeting the 'Middle class' who may not be able to afford lawyers and accountants to act on their behalf.

SONGS FOR ZEN - eBook by Partap Sharma and illustrated by Dheera Kitchlu

2011-09-16T13:47:00.000+01:00

SONGS FOR ZEN
eBook by Partap Sharma and illustrated by Dherra Kitchlu

SONGS FOR ZEN

Partap Sharma

Illustrations by Dheera Kitchlu

eBook available from IDEAINDIA.COM

http://www.ideaindia.com/product_detail.php?pid=1946

Are Rogue Traders Ringfenced?

2011-09-15T13:58:00.001+01:00

Are Rogue Traders Ringfenced?

In light of news today that a rogue trader at the Swiss Bank UBS has caused a loss of US$2 bn, the Vickers report into UK banking comes at a good time.

NAVA DURGA: Nine Incarnations, Nine Nights - FREE eArticle by Rooshikumar Pandya

2011-09-11T14:39:00.000+01:00

Nava Durga carvings

NAVA DURGA

Nine Incarnations, Nine Nights

FREE eArticle by Rooshikumar Pandya

Published by IDEAINDIA.COM

Click here to read

Rooshikumar Pandya is a master trainer in all aspects of communication and behavioural sciences. He has trained over 100,000 employees of Fortune 500 companies in the US and Canada. He has also conducted sessions in some of the best organizations in India. His workshops have been attended by CEOs, doctors, bankers, salesmen and actors. Described by the ‘Evening News of India’ as a “Communicator par Excellence,” Prof. Pandya is known in the corporate world of India as a “Trainer’s Trainer”, “Master Trainer” or as the ‘Deccan Herald’ put it, as a management trainer/consultant/mentor with an “arresting, rhetorical style, clarity of thought and simplicity of argument.”